The geographically informed person must understand the human imprint on the physical environment. Many of the important issues facing modern society are the result of human modifications of the physical environment. Some of these modifications are intended and positive; others unintended and negative. These changes have political, economic, and social implications at all scales, from the global to local.
Therefore, Standard 14 contains these themes: Modification of the Physical Environment, The Use of Technology, and Consequences for People and Environments.
To survive, people depend on the physical environment. They adapt and modify it to suit their changing needs to meet life’s necessities. In the process, they bring knowledge and technology to bear on physical systems. Alterations to the environment have brought economic prosperity to some areas at some times and created environmental crises in others. Resulting modifications that vary in scope, scale, and duration often place enormous demands on the capacity of physical systems to absorb and accommodate such changes. Contrast the benign long-term consequences of terracing hillsides to grow rice for food with the dramatic depletion of Arctic sea ice as a result of global warming since the Industrial Revolution. Because of these significant spatial and temporal variations in impact, students must understand both the potential benefits and costs of changes to an environment.
Understanding global interdependence begins with awareness of the continuous modification of Earth to meet human wants and needs. When successful, the relationship between people and their environment is adaptive in the short- and long-term; when modifications are excessive or inappropriate, the relationship is fractured. Increasingly, students will be required to make decisions about connections between human needs and the physical environment.
Students must understand the consequences their actions have on the physical environment and make informed, sustainable choices as they modify the current physical environment. Understanding these themes enables students to see how human actions modify the physical environment and set those changes in a local to global context that ensures sustainability.
1. People modify the physical environment
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Identify and describe ways in which humans modify the physical environment, as exemplified by being able to
2. People use technology to get what they need from the physical environment
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe and explain ways in which people use technology to get what they need from the physical environment, as exemplified by being able to
3. The consequences of human modifications of the physical environment
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Identify and describe examples of how human activities impact the physical environment, as exemplified by being able to
1. Human modifications of the physical environment in one place often lead to changes in other places
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe and explain how human-induced changes in one place can affect the physical environment in other places, as exemplified by being able to
2. The use of technology has changed the scale at which people can modify the physical environment
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe and explain the ways in which technology has expanded the scale of human modification of the physical environment, as exemplified by being able to
3. The physical environment can both accommodate and be endangered by human activities
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Analyze the positive and negative consequences of humans changing the physical environment, as exemplified by being able to
1. Human modifications of the physical environment can have significant global impacts
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Explain the global impacts of human changes in the physical environment, as exemplified by being able to
2. The use of technology can have both intended and unintended impacts on the physical environment that may be positive or negative
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Evaluate the intended and unintended impacts of using technology to modify the physical environment, as exemplified by being able to
3. People can either mitigate and/or adapt to the consequences of human modifications of the physical environment
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe and evaluate scenarios for mitigating and/or adapting to environmental changes caused by human modifications, as exemplified by being able to
CREATED BY
GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT
